When we last left Mary Harris (Caroline Dhavernas), her world was in disarray. She’d been investigated by undercover cop Ben Wesley (Jay Ryan), who sought to arrest her for performing illegal assisted suicides. Her daughter, Jess (Abigail Winter), suspected Mary was leading a double life, putting a strain on their relationship. And Des Bennett (Richard Short) had gone to prison after taking the fall for Mary. So, what’s in store for Mary in Season 2 of Mary Kills People?
“The stakes are even higher,” Dhavernas told us during a recent set visit. Created by Tara Armstrong and executive-produced by Armstrong, Tassie Cameron and Amy Cameron, Mary Kills People returns Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global with Mary unable to stop killing and coming in contact with new characters. Mary is seeking a steady supply of pentobarbital while attempting to keep her day job as an ER doctor intact. Making that difficult is Olivia Bloom (Rachelle Lefevre), a mysterious woman tied to someone from Mary’s past.
We spoke to Caroline Dhavernas about what fans can expect in the series’ sophomore season.
I understand there is a bit of a time jump between Season 1 and Season 2. When we catch up with Des and Mary, he is getting out of prison. How much time has gone by?
Caroline Dhavernas: It’s eight or nine months. He’s been a good inmate, so he’s out early.
Des went to prison for Mary. Where does this leave their relationship?
It’s a big responsibility and for Mary, it’s a big weight on her shoulders. But, as you can imagine, she’s been doing her thing on her own while he was away and taking a liking to it. In the first season, we explored very grey zones, and that’s even more so in the second season. Mary has always been very open-minded about who deserves to die, but now she takes that to another level and Des and Mary will come into disagreements because of that.
I like it when Des and Mary don’t always see eye to eye.
It’s a great relationship. I don’t think that we see it often on TV; a man and a woman who are really great friends but there is no romance happening, ever. We’re very proud that it hasn’t gone that way.
At the end of Season 1, Nicole wanted in on Mary’s business. Does that occur in Season 2?
She does try for that to happen. Of course, they’re very bonded with what they did to their mother, so it’s an interesting avenue for them to take.
There is a lot of dark and light to Mary Kills People, but there is a lot of humour as well.
That’s why I think the tone is so unique. We go from very dramatic and compassionate moments with the deaths to them having a taco and letting the steam out. I like that balance. In Season 2, the stakes are even higher and the suspense is even stronger than it was in Season 1.
What can you tell me about Rachelle’s character, Olivia?
She is a very strong woman. She loves power. I think she and Mary have a lot in common but in polar opposite ways. There is something about power for Mary as well because of what she does, but Olivia is the dark side of the force. We explore a little bit of the criminal world more this season.
I did wonder where Mary could go in Season 2. I thought maybe she’d lay low for awhile. Clearly not.
Nope, she’s just not that kind of gal. [Laughs.] I think it speaks volumes to her addiction. In Season 1 we really saw the compassionate side of her and at the end, we started to see how she couldn’t help herself. She loves doing this. She’s not capable of stopping; she says that to her sister on the dock. We see that side evolve even more. She needs it.
I really enjoyed the scenes between Mary and her daughter, Jess, played by Abigail Winter, in Season 1. Where does that relationship go in Season 2?
There are moments, again, where they don’t understand each other. Mary cannot be exactly who she is in front of her family because she’s hiding it from them. This will always be a problem with her older daughter because she’s old enough to feel things are a little off. Mary is having a hard time keeping all of the lies together and Jess keeps feeling that. Jess will continue to explore her sexuality in Season 2 and who she is.
What I loved about her in Season 1, her sexuality and her mom is that we never talked about the fact that she was gay. It was just a given. It didn’t have to be the big coming out and all that. There is the scene on the dock where she says that she is in love with Naomi [Katie Douglas], and the way I saw it Mary always knew but she doesn’t have to say anything about it. She’s in love, period. I love that.
Mary Kills People airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global.
Images courtesy of Corus.
